Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.
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Posted on 05/20/2015 8:00:08 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
One of the great physics experiments of our age looks ready to begin its quest.
Scientists have held a dedication ceremony to inaugurate the Advanced Ligo facilities in the US.
This pair of widely separated laboratories will be hunting for gravitational waves.
These ripples in the fabric of space-time are predicted to result from extreme cosmic events, such as the merger of black holes and the explosive demise of giant stars.
Confirmation of the waves' existence should open up a new paradigm in astronomy.
It is one that would no longer depend on traditional light telescopes to observe and understand phenomena on the sky.
"Advanced Ligo represents a critically important step forward in our continuing effort to understand the extraordinary mysteries of our Universe," said France Córdova, the director of the US National Science Foundation.
"It gives scientists a highly sophisticated instrument for detecting gravitational waves, which we believe carry with them information about their dynamic origins and about the nature of gravity that cannot be obtained by conventional astronomical tools."(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
I’m near one of the detection devices.
They wanted to put windmills on a mountain nearby but vibration from the turbines would disrupt the sensors. There are two perpendicular arms about a mile long in the setup.
Unfortunately, they may not be able to detect a graviton, see video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-FSFtoeagc
The new equipment is capable of measuring very small disturbances of paths of the laser beams, on the order of one-ten-thousandth of the width of a proton. Even the first-generation equipment could detect waves breaking at the coast, 300 miles away (known background noise gets filtered out by software).
Seems like there should also be a vertical tube for a true x-y-z setup. 3D gravitational waves! The mile-high leg would also be a big tourist draw!
....otherwise we can expect another ice age.
I'll take "Unusual Headlines" for $500, Alex.
Yeah, it would get a few visitors but the wind blows pretty good around here so it probably end up horizontal.
It is like studying “global warming”. Dark matter and gravitons are theories so there is money to be had to see if they exist.
Heard BO blaming GW or climate change for the Middle East wars.
The a$$ needs a few semesters at the War Colllege to learn how to lead a military .
Rule 1 : When you are going to turn tail and run, don’t tell the enemy when and where.
Rule 2 : Why the hell are you retreating?
As I recall, sometime in the late 50’s, Robert Forward was using a giant aluminum cylinder housed in the high bay area of the UCLA School of Engineering for what turned out to be a failed attempt to detect gravity waves. Almost 6 decades later and we’re still trying to find those illusive waves.
What if Einstein was wrong?
This photoshop could be improved using the newly developedEinstein Handwriting Font.
Heh, it’s not photoshop, it was an online gizmo at hetemeel.com.
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